Apple to release new small phone before iPhone 7: Report

Apple is to make a smaller, cheaper version of the iPhone, returning to the 4-inch size of the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 6C, as it will likely be called, is being prepared for
launch next year, according to a new report from Apple analyst Ming-Chi
Kuo. It will sell alongside Apple's existing phones, but mark the first
time that Apple has made a new phone smaller than the one it put on sale
before.

The new phone will come in the existing body of the
iPhone 5S, according to reports. There will be the choice of two or
three colours, likely the gold, space grey and silver options that most
Apple products now come in.

But inside there will be vastly
improved components. The flagship upgrade will be the inclusion of the
A9 chip that powers the iPhone 6S.

There may also be some
changes to the outside. The most visible is likely to be the inclusion
of the slightly curved edges that are found on the iPhone 6 and 6S.

It is unlikely to feature Apple's pressure-sensitive Force Touch
screen, according to reports. The company has been gradually rolling the
special screens out across its range, but it is a flagship feature of
the more premium iPhone 6s and 6S Plus.

It will include Apple Pay, the contactless payment system that was
introduced with the iPhone 6. That is an attempt to spread that system
among more people and help it gain more traction, according to the
report.

The approach models that taken by Apple with the iPhone 5C, though
unlike that phone it will include most of the quality and features found
on the bigger models. For that handset — launched alongside the iPhone
6S — Apple upgraded the body but placed it in a cheaper plastic case.

Apple dropped the iPhone 5C earlier this year. Some hoped that it would
be replaced by a 6C, though reports at the time made clear that was
possible but unlikely to happen immediately.

It's likely that the new phone will replace the iPhone 5S in Apple's
line-up, and sell for around $400-$500. That will make it the only way
of buying an iPhone that has a smaller screen, since Apple moved to two
much bigger sizes with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

The iPhone is now easily the biggest of Apple's businesses, and saw
even more growth with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Many had said that Apple
could struggle to keep up that growth because it was partly helped by
pent-up interest in an iPhone with a bigger screen.